Ethics and Animation

By Gratia Lam

June 24, 2024

For many years now, people have been watching anime. But have they ever wondered who is behind the scenes producing it all? Animation companies like MAPPA, Studio Ghibli, Kyoto Animation, Wit Studio, and many more do so. However, there are still tons of viewers that are not aware of the working environment these companies provide their workers with. 

Throughout 2024, animation studio MAPPA is set to release new animes, such as Oblivion Battery and Maboroshi. Many people are excited for the releases, while others feel conflicted due to the controversies between the employees working there and the company. 

Online, communities have been discussing the toxic environment that MAPPA is reported to subject its employees to. They mention the crucial 12-hour shifts the workers have to endure daily and the colossal eyebags employees are spotted to have. According to the freelance animator Mushiyo, MAPPA continuously overworks their staff, with animators having to work overnight to fix drawings until the sun rises and failing to properly train animators before assigning them to projects. Multiple Reddit posts and Tiktok videos, along with several news articles, describe the workers’ surroundings as “inhumane.” The news has caused viewers to reconsider their support of the company’s work. JMS student Amy Zhang, who has been keeping up with the controversies MAPPA has been facing, reflected: “I've seen on Tiktok that MAPPA treats their workers very badly. I think it should be brought up more so it could be changed.” 

MAPPA has been previously successful with popular anime shows such as Vinland Saga, Attack On Titan, and Yuri On Ice. Although fans may be aware of MAPPA employees' horrible working conditions, the situation has seemed to have gotten even worse. Following the release of season two of the popular show Jujutsu Kaisen, fans have expressed a significant amount of criticism towards the animation quality. Some fans on Reddit pages noted that the animation quality seemed “rushed” and “incomplete” near the end of the second season. On the other hand, others defended the animation saying, many don't know what that style of anime should look like because they don't watch many shows outside of their bubble. 

An average feature film is usually animated in the span of 2-3 years; however, the prequel movie for Jujutsu Kaisen was animated in the short time of four months. In that time, MAPPA did not pay animators accordingly for their hard work. Though they had completed a lot of work in such a short time period, they were actually paid less than what they were normally paid for similar projects. 

It seems that despite the growing awareness of the situation, many people will continue supporting MAPPA’s shows and other works. “Many will still watch the show [even] knowing the backstory…People often ignore problems that don't affect them,” Amy Zhang acknowledged.